Open Microsoft Word 2007 files

If you are unable to open documents from Microsoft Word 2007 with Word 2003 (the current campus default) it will be necessary to install Microsoft's File Format Converter. The process is simple.

1. Download the Office Compatibility Pack (FileFormatConverters.exe).
2. Close any Microsoft Office applications that may be running.
3. Double click the FileFormatConverters.exe file to begin installation.
4. A dialogue with a license agreement will appear, accept the terms and click "Continue".
5. Installation will proceed and complete without further intervention.

Although you can open Office Word 2007 files in previous versions of Word, you may not be able to change some items that were created by using the new or enhanced features in Office Word 2007. For example, equations will become images that cannot be changed. The following is a list of document elements that are changed when they are opened in a previous version of Word.

Office Word 2007 element	Change when opened in a previous version
Equations	Become graphics and cannot be changed.
Themes	Permanently converted to styles. If the file is later opened in Office Word 2007, you cannot automatically change the style by using themes.
Theme colors	Permanently converted to styles. If the file is later opened in Office Word 2007, you cannot automatically change the style by using theme colors.
Theme fonts	Permanently converted to styles. If the file is later opened in Office Word 2007, you cannot automatically change the style by using theme fonts.
Theme effects	Permanently converted to styles. If the file is later opened in Office Word 2007, you cannot automatically change the style by using theme effects.
Content controls	Permanently converted to static text.
Tracked moves	Permanently converted to insertions and deletions.
Heading and body fonts	Permanently converted to static formatting. If the file is later opened in Office Word 2007, heading and body fonts won't automatically change if you use a different style.
Relative text boxes	Permanently converted to absolute positioning.
Margins	Permanently converted to absolute positioning. If the file is later opened in Office Word 2007, the margins won't automatically change if you use a different style.
Bibliography	Permanently converted to static text.
Citations	Permanently converted to static text.
Placeholder text in citations	Permanently converted to static text.
Placeholder text in content controls	Permanently converted to static text.
Office Art	Only a small subset of illustrations are available.
Charts and diagrams	Some charts and diagrams will be converted to images that cannot be changed.

AVG Free Antivirus New Version

AVG Free Edition is the well-known antivirus protection tool. AVG Free is available free of charge to home users for the life of the product. Rapid virus database updates are available for the lifetime of the product, thereby providing the high level of detection capability that millions of users around the world trust to protect their computers. AVG Free is easy to use and will not slow your system down (low system resource requirements. Highlights include automatic update functionality, the AVG Resident Shield, which provides real-time protection as files are opened and programs are run, free Virus Database Updates for the lifetime of the product, and AVG Virus Vault for safe handling of infected files.

Version 8.5 now includes LinkScanner's Active Surf-Shield to check every Web page for threats at the only time that matters--when you're about to click on the link.

Symantec Update

(an excerpt from a recent web news article)

Late yesterday evening, Symantec released an unsigned patch containing the file 'PIFTS.EXE'. Because the file was unsigned, it caused firewall alerts in Norton Internet Security and Norton Antivirus when the file attempted to access the Internet. It's not yet been revealed exactly what the purpose of the file was, but it's actions were to create a URL consisting of version information for certain Norton products. But though the actions of the file were pretty benign, reactions from users were anything but calm. Instead, spammers immediately began flooding Symantec forums, theory crafting many evil scenarios, leaving nonsense posts, and generally creating havoc. That led to Symantec deleting the threads, which in turn led to even more conspiracy theories and finger pointing.

malware distributors were quick to pick up on the controversy and immediately began seeding malware through search engines by posting links to malicious files using the keyword 'PIFTS.EXE'. Be wary of any update file with this name.

Symantec Released the following statement:

"Symantec released a diagnostic patch "PIFTS.exe" targeting Norton Internet Security and Norton Antivirus 2006 & 2007 users on March 9, 2009. This patch was released for approximately 3 hours (4:30 - 7:40 PM March 9, 2009 Pacific Time). In a case of human error, the patch was released by Symantec "unsigned", which caused the firewall user prompt for this file to access the Internet. The firewall alert for the patch caused understandable concern for users and began to be reported back to Symantec. Releasing a patch unsigned is an extremely rare occurrence that does not pose any security issues to our users. The patch reached a limited number of Norton customers and has subsequently been pulled from further distribution. Norton users are fully protected and do not need to take any action as a result of this issue.

There has been activity in the Norton User Forum related to PIFTS.exe which has generated additional concern and media speculation. At approximately 10:30pmET Monday March 9, Symantec detected that our User Forum boards were being abused by an individual or individuals. One individual created a new user account and posted about the name of the patch executable, PIFTS.exe. Within minutes, several dozen user accounts were created commenting on the initial thread, and/or creating new threads on the topic. Over the next few hours, over 200 user accounts were created. Within the first hour there were 600 new posts on this subject alone. While the intent of the spammer(s) remains unclear, there were no malicious links and it simply resulted in a widespread communications challenge for Symantec. Below are some examples of the forum spam we received from these new user accounts.

Symantec strictly adheres to its Norton Community Terms of Service and does not delete postings unless they are in violation of these guidelines. Upon determining that our User Forums were being abused, Symantec began removing the spam posts.

Finally, it has also been reported by the Washington Post that hackers are taking advantage of this situation. "Some of the top searches (currently the 3rd and 4th result in a Google search) are Web sites that try to install malicious software when you visit them." When searching for information on "pifts.exe," Symantec strongly advises all users to be wary of following links to unknown sites as malicious users are attempting to use this hot topic to distribute malware."